Councilmember Sharon Ambrose
Councilmember
Carol Schwartz
A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Councilmember Carol Schwartz and Councilmember Sharon
Ambrose introduced the following bill, which was referred to the
Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
To amend Title 28 of the District of Columbia Official
Code to authorize the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
to require the owner of a multi-family dwelling, upon written request
by a rental tenant or owner-occupant of that dwelling, to order a lead
level test of the tap water of a unit in the dwelling belonging to
neither the owner nor to an employee of the owner within 10 calendar
days of receiving the written request, to provide a written copy of
the water test results to the individual who requested the test and
to any rental tenant or owner-occupant of the dwelling who requests a
copy, to conspicuously post the results on the premises, and to
establish a penalty for failure to comply with the provisions of this
act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
That this act may be cited as the "Residential Water Lead
Level Test Act of 2004".
Sec. 2. Chapter 39 of Title 28 of the District of
Columbia Official Code is amended as follows:
(a) The table of contents is amended by adding a new
section designation "28-3912. Water lead level testing of
multi-family dwelling requirements." after the section designation "28-3911".
(b) A new section § 28-3912 is added to read as follows:
"28-3912. Water lead level testing of multi-family
dwelling requirements.
"(a) Pursuant to the authority vested in the
Department by section 28-3903(9), the Director shall require the owner of a multi-family
dwelling to order a water test kit from the Water and Sewer Authority ("WASA") to sample
the tap water in the building for the presence of lead within 10 calendar days of a written request to do
so by a rental tenant or owner-occupant of the building. The owner shall order a water lead level
test kit for each rental tenant and owner-occupant who requests a test, up to a maximum of 10% of
the units or 15 units, whichever is less.
"(b) Within 10 calendar days of receiving the water
test kit from WASA, the owner shall:
"(1) Collect first-draw and second-draw samples of
the tap water in each unit being tested, pursuant to the instructions
provided by WASA with the kit. The sample shall be collected from a
unit that is neither the owner's unit nor a unit occupied by a person
employed by the owner, in the presence of an individual who occupies
the unit, whose name and address shall be provided to WASA along with
the water samples; and
"(2) Submit the samples to WASA for testing.
"(c) WASA shall mail the results of the water lead
level test to both the building owner and to the individual who
occupies the unit in which the water samples were collected and whose
name and address were provided pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section.
"(d) Within 10 calendar days of receiving the water
lead level test results from WASA, the building owner shall provide a
written copy of the test results to the individual who requested the
test and to any rental tenant or owner-occupant of the building who
requests a copy of the test results, and shall also post the test
results in a conspicuous place on the premises.
"(e) Failure of an owner to comply with the
provisions of this act following the initial written request shall be punishable by a fine of
$100 for each day of noncompliance.
"(f) For the purposes of this section, the
term:
"(1) "Multi-family dwelling" means a
building containing 2 or more dwelling units of rental tenants, or owner-occupants or rental
tenants of a condominium or cooperative, which are associations of owners, shareholders, or
members organized and incorporated in accordance with Chapter 9 of Title 29.
"(2) "Owner" includes an owners'
association that is a group legally incorporated in accordance with Chapter 9 of Title 29 that is
the recognized representative of the households in a condominium or cooperative housing
building.".
Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement.
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in
the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the
District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D. C. Official
Code § 1-206.02(c)(3)).
Sec. 5. Effective date.
This act shall take effect following approval by
the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto),
a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of
Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code §
1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register. |
